The Infected
The Infected are the main antagonists of the films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. They are, as their name suggests, people infected with the Rage Virus. They play a much larger role in the sequel, as opposed to the first film. Info Rage does not directly cause the death of its host, but because the host is solely focused on infecting or killing the uninfected, it causes those infected to become disinterested in self-nourishment which will eventually cause death by starvation. Since the virus causes those infected to act with no regard for self-preservation, they will not act to evade mortal danger, such as fire or chemical gas. The Infected experience spasms in the extremities, and their irises become blood red. They also vomit, drool, and sometimes produce from their eyes, copious amounts of infectious blood. It has also been shown that the Infected use their sense of smell to find the uninfected and that trace amounts of products such as perfume or soap will attract them to the source. The Infected are distinct from cinematic zombies in that they are not the reanimated dead. Also, films such as the Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and Resident Evil series portray zombies as creatures that desire to consume living flesh. By contrast, while the Infected will attempt to bite their victims, it is usually as a means of either killing them (often by severing the main arteries in their neck) or spreading the virus. They are not shown to ingest any organic material, apparently due to said disregard for nourishment. Another key difference is that the Rage-infected victims are still living human beings and as such can be killed by weapons and other means that are fatal to uninfected humans. Unlike other zombies, the Infected, while losing most of their higher levels of intelligence, are highly atuned to their surroundings, being able to navigate over and around obstacles to otherwise unseen targets. Whereas most other zombies will simply try to approach non-infected individuals from the most direct route, often failing repeatedly. The Infected in a similiar situation will simply run into the building, often destroying doors and windows, and go through the structure to reach the designated target. This can be seen as one of the Delta Team snipers in 28 Weeks Later is mauled by two Infected on top of a large building. Abilities The Infected still have the same level of, if not increased, mobility as they did before becoming infected. Both films have also demonstrated that they do possess a rudimentary sense of spatial awareness. In 28 Weeks Later, the character Don Harris is shown to be able to manipulate such simplistic objects as blunt-force weapons. The Infected can be killed by conventional means though killing an infected human may be made more difficult by their adrenaline enhanced strength, endurance, and disregard for pain along with their own well being. The Infected also gain heightened senses of sight, hearing, and smell. In both movies, the Infected prefer to be in shaded to pitch black areas compared to bright light. This can be seen in 28 Days Later, as the survivors would rather move during day light, and the Infected which chased the survivors through the underground tunnel did not not follow them into the daylight, as well as the night attacks on the military stronghold. In 28 Weeks later, the Infected, in particular Don Harris, prefered to lurk in pitch black areas. Don had little trouble roaming around in the abandoned subway, whereas Tammy, Andy and Scarlett needed night vison in order to nagivate through the darkness and dried out corpses. The Infected are also extremely sensitive to light and noise, as in 28 Days Later, Jim only had a candle lit, but this was sufficient enough to draw the attention of two Infected. While the Infected do eventually die from lack of nutrition, the Rage Virus seems to slow down their metabolism to such an extent that the Infected are able to last just under two months before becoming too weak to move. The process may speed up or slow down depending on how active the Infected are. In 28 Days Later, before Jim alerted several Infected in the church, they were lying motionlessly amongst a large amount of corpses, perhaps to conserve energy, or due to lack of any non-infected individuals around. Or it could be because of their nocturnal nature. Trivia * Ethan Van Sciver , Green Lantern writer and artist, officially stated in Issue #2 of Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps that the Red Lanterns, people wearing red power rings that spew dangerously acidic blood, were inspired by the Infected of 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. He also mentioned that they were his favorite Lantern Corps. * People who are observant will noticed that the Infected always go after their former friends/family (now turned enemies) Examples of this are: ** In 28 Weeks Later, Donald leaves Alice to die in the cottage; when his children later resuce Alice from their old London home, in quarantine Alice (unkowingly) Infects Don, and Don kills her. This leads to Donald having some reasoning skills, or it could be a coincidence. It also leads to the belief that the Infected are more agressive towards Carriers, possibly because they know that they cannot Infect Carriers. ** Mailer, the Infected that was chained in the mansion in 28 Days Later, attacks the soliders that captured him first before proceeding to attack Jim, Selena and Hannah. ** In 28 Weeks Later, the Infected Donald Harris appears to be stalking his children. * The only Infected animals to be see (so far) are the chimpanzees from 28 Days Later. apart from that no other infected animals are seen. Oddly there are not that many animals around since the Outbreak started. Not even a stray dog is seen (though a stray swan was seen on the Tower Bridge in 28 Weeks Later). However, it is probable most animals were killed by the Infected due to their fits of rage and also due to the fact that only primates (humans and monkeys) are able to carry the Virus. It is probable if the Virus hit an animal it would just die, as Rage can only use primates as its hosts. *In 28 Weeks Later, the Infected have started becoming diurnal, when more survivors are likley to be found, forcing survivors to take cover in the darkness. This is the exact opposite of their behaviour in 28 Days Later. The reason for them coming out during day time is not explained anywhere, and it could have been overlooked, or it could just be their sheer desperation to find more uninfected victims. *In 28 Days Later, the Infected - most noticeably the priest and Private Clifton - are shown to suffer from strong spasms. However, in 28 Weeks Later, none of the Infected appear to suffer from these spasms. Examples of intelligence by the Infected: * The Infected Donald is somehow able to track and follow his children and is also able to evade the napalm strike by taking cover underground. He is also able to operate basic machinery such as turning the lights off in the underground parking. Some believe he did this to allow his children the opportunity to get into a cul-de-sac before finally confronting them. * The kid fron Sandford was possibly spared so that he would, while trying to evade the Infected, unknowingly lure them to other uninfected. There is no chance that an eight year old child who is four foot high could have run five miles while staying ahead of the Infected. It is only after the kid enters the survivors' cottage that the Infected attack. External Links *Lit of Fictional Diseases - Wikipedia.org * The Infected - Zombiepedia Category:Infected